by Khloe Wren
Scout
After giving the doc the information about Ariel, he told me he needed to go over his notes on her case then he’d meet with us and discuss what Ariel would need going forward, so I left the hospital and headed toward Marie's Cafe. I was sure the girls were doing fine, but I'd told Marie this morning I'd check in on them, and it was the best place in town to get coffee. Nothing but the best for my old lady.
About three seconds after pushing the door open, I had Zara in my face asking about a hundred questions.
“Whoa, girl. Take a breath.”
With a shake of her head she stopped, and with her eyes closed, took a deep breath. I watched her closely in case she went down and I needed to catch her. Zara had cataplexy and intense emotion could make her drop like a stone as her muscles gave out.
“How is Marie? And the little girl?”
I wasn't sure how much information had filtered down the grapevine so I took her elbow and guided her over to a seat. There were only a few customers in the place and Mercedes looked to have them under control.
“Sarah passed away this morning. The little girl was her daughter, her name's Ariel. We've just found out she's four years old, but she looks about two. Sweet little thing, white blonde hair and big, hazel eyes. I've got things rolling for Marie and me to adopt her.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “Oh, that poor baby. How's Marie holding up?”
“As well as can be expected. I think having Ariel to look after is actually helping her.”
A thoughtful expression passed over her face that made me a little nervous. Zara plotting usually meant trouble.
“What are you plotting in that pretty little head of yours now?”
She blinked her eyes for a moment. “No plotting, well, no bad plotting. You know there's a couple places for sale on our street right now? If you moved in there, we'd all be close by and the kids could grow up together. We can do play dates.”
I gave her a nod as I ran my hand through my hair. “Not a bad idea, Zara. Not sure how long it'll be before Ariel's going to be ready for play dates, though. I don't think she's even met another child before. She doesn't speak. We heard her whispering to Sarah this morning, but other than that, she hasn't said a word.”
She started blinking really fast. “Oh, that poor little love.”
“Pretty much. Anyhow, I can't stay long, but Marie's hungry and wants coffee. Can you fix her up something?”
She just about leapt from the chair. “I can totally do that.”
I sat back as she rushed over and got to work behind the counter. As I waited, I pulled out my phone and Googled up the real estate listings for Bridgewater to find the places Zara mentioned. I knew when Eagle, Mac and Taz all bought next to each other on the one street they'd hoped other brothers would follow their lead and eventually the club would own the whole street. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Both houses looked good online. Later I'd go visit the agent and see if I could go have a look at them. I wondered if I should take Marie with me or make it a surprise.
Reaching for my bandana, I winced and moved to stroke my beard instead. As much as I liked the idea of surprising her, with Ariel to consider, maybe it would be best if Marie was more involved. And with all the cooking she did, she’d want to check out the kitchen of anywhere we lived. With my mind made up, I decided to visit the agent on my way to the hospital to pick up the printed material they had on the two properties.
Zara came over with a large take-out box and two coffee cups.
“Here you go, just how she likes it. And there's enough for her to share with you, and here's a coffee.”
I reached for my wallet and Zara scoffed at me. “Don't you dare try to pay. This is Marie's Cafe, her old man shouldn't have to pay for a coffee any more than Marie should. Go take care of her and let her know we've got everything here covered.”
I leaned down to press a kiss to her temple. “You're a treasure, darlin', and I'm glad Mac snapped you up so we get to keep you in the family.”
As she blushed a bright red, I left the cafe with my cargo and loaded up my cage. After a quick stop at the real estate agent, I made my way back to the hospital.
When I got to Ariel's room, the little girl was still busy playing with her toys, lost in a world no one but she could see. It was the most normal thing I'd seen her do. Well, normal except for the fact she was doing it in complete silence.
“Hey, babe. The girls made us a meal to share apparently. No f―” I coughed to cover the fact I nearly dropped another f bomb. “I've got no idea what they made, though. Oh, and a coffee.”
I handed over the cup and she took a long drink before closing her eyes on a moan. A sound that had my cock hard and ready for her.
“Darlin' you gotta stop that.”
She flicked her gaze to mine and a blush stained her cheeks. Yeah, she knew what she'd just done to me. Cheeky woman. I took a mouthful of my own brew.
“Listen, I gotta head back for church. Not sure how long that'll take but I'll come back to get you after, so we can head home. Donna will be back to spend the night with Ariel.”
She stood from her seat and wrapped her arms around my waist, snuggling into me. I wound my arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“I've got something to show you tonight, too. Something Zara suggested we might want.”
She looked up at me expectantly, but I wasn't gonna tell her yet. Wondering what I was talking about would give her something else to think about during the afternoon. I leaned down and took her mouth. The kiss turned hot fast and it took all my control to end it and not drag her off somewhere so I could take her.
“I can't wait for tonight.”
“Me, too.”
With a groan, I forced myself to rise from the seat and leave the room. Church was gonna be the shortest on record if I had anything to do with it.
CHAPTER 11
Marie
When Scout returned, he came back with Donna, who was going to stay with Ariel for the night. As soon as she entered the room, I rose to give her a hug.
“Thank you so much for doing this.”
“No need to thank me, honey. We're family, and I think it'll be good to get Ariel used to a few people early on. You can't be awake and by her side twenty-four/seven going forward.”
That left me fighting a wince. I did want to be able to care for Ariel by myself, but Donna was right. I was going to need help if I wanted to have any kind of relationship with Scout, and if I wanted to keep my business running.
While lost in my head, Scout managed to get me out of the building and into his car. I watched his face as he began to drive out of the parking lot. He really was a handsome man. The gray in his hair and beard only added to his appeal, at least to me. I was tempted to reach over and run my fingers through his beard or hair, but I didn't want to distract him from driving.
“I figured we could drop by your place so you can pack up some stuff to bring back to mine, then when we get to mine, I'll show you what I told you about earlier.”
I chewed my lip for a moment before I spoke. “Is this you asking me to move in with you?”
He shrugged and glanced over at me briefly.
“Your place isn't big enough for all three of us, mine is. Just figured it was logical that you come live with me, then when Ariel gets released from hospital, she can move right in to her own room. Knowing it had been her momma’s room once might help her, too.”
That was a sweet thought and I agreed that Ariel would like sleeping where her mother had once. But his kitchen was going to need a huge upgrade for me to cook all that I needed to for the cafe. Before I could tell him that, we pulled up to my place. It was small, but it was mine, and it had a state of the art kitchen. I could have bought a larger place, I certainly had the money saved up. But I loved having something smaller that was easier to maintain, and didn't make me feel so lonely by having a ton of empty space everywhere.
; I was extremely grateful to see my car was parked in the driveway.
“Do you have my keys?”
“Ah, shit. Yeah. I keep forgetting to give you your stuff back. I swear it’s not on purpose.”
That had me chuckling as he dug into his pocket while he got out of his car. By the time he joined me on my side of the car, he had them ready and pressed them into my palm.
“I know you don’t do it on purpose. We’ve both got a lot going on right now. You know, if you want, you can head home and I'll pack up my car and come over in a bit.”
“No way in hell, Marie. I ain't leaving you alone.”
“You will let me bring my car over, though? I need to be able to get myself around when you're busy with club business.”
He winced and I suspected he was grinding his teeth for a few moments before he answered.
“Yeah, okay.”
I moved to press myself against his front, going up on tip toes to press a kiss to his mouth.
“Thank you, Charlie.”
I loved how he melted when I used his birth name. I realized it was playing a little dirty right now but I knew he didn't like the idea of me having my car at his place. He'd no doubt rather drive me everywhere I needed to go, but I'd been living alone and doing everything for myself for a very long time. I didn't want to change that part of myself. As much as I loved Scout, and wanted a relationship with him, I would never become a kept woman who would need him every moment of the day. And I honestly didn't think that was the type of woman Scout needed, either.
“I know I'm being over-protective, babe, but after the last couple of days, I can't help it. I swear, I won't normally be hovering around you all the damn time. I know you enjoy your independence, and I don't want to take that from you. Just give me a week or two to get over nearly losing you, okay?”
My heart melted a little more for him. How could I stay mad at him when he said things like that?
“Deal. C'mon. I want to get this done and see what this surprise is that you've been teasing me with all afternoon.”
He followed me once I unlocked the front door and growled when I tossed my keys on the side table.
“What's wrong?”
“Where's your security system, babe?”
I pointed to the lock on the door. “There.”
He closed his eyes and tilted his head up for a minute, then with a shake of his head, he looked me in the eye.
“It's a miracle you haven't had any trouble, Marie. You should have some kind of system to monitor the house.”
“Scout, I can't sneeze without one of your boys knowing about it. I didn't think wasting money on a fancy system was necessary when I have an entire MC watching my every move.”
His expression softened a little as he came to me and pulled me in close before he wrapped his arms around me.
“You've never had someone watching your every move, babe. I know it seemed like it, but I fucking swear, I never put a twenty-four/seven guard on you.”
Before I could say anything else, he took my mouth with his in a passionate kiss that left me gripping his sides while my toes curled into the soles of my shoes. His palms slid down to cup my ass and when he lifted me, I wrapped my legs around his waist while he kept kissing me as he pushed me up against the wall. As I wrapped my arms around him and buried my hands in his hair, he shifted one hand from my ass up under my shirt, pulling the cup of my bra down so he could tease my nipple with tweaks and light pinches.
With a groan, I threw my head back against the wall, and Scout moved to kiss his way down my throat, his beard tickling as he moved.
“Missed you today.”
“We only spent a few hours apart.”
He pulled back and lowered my feet to the ground a moment before he was tearing my shirt off over my head and attacking the fly of my pants.
“I haven't been inside you for-fucking-ever, babe. Need to take you before I lose my fucking mind.”
I couldn't form words to respond. The heat and desperation in his eyes and movements were enough to tell me he really was on edge and needed me to bring him back down. I toed off my shoes and shoved my jeans the rest of the way down as he ripped into his own pants. The moment he freed his thick erection, he was back on me, lifting me up against the wall and impaling me on his hard length. I was still a little tender from the previous night, so I felt every ridge of his dick as he slid in deep.
“Oh, Charlie...”
He began to pump in and out of me as he recaptured my mouth. When he moved a palm from my hip back to my breast, I lowered my leg so I could use my foot against the floor to keep up with his thrusts. I wanted him deeper, needed more of him. With a growl he pulled out of me. I whimpered at the sudden loss of his heat, but he spun me around and suddenly I was lying face down over my kitchen table.
“Spread those legs for me, baby.”
I did as he asked and a second later, he slammed back home, deeper than before. The head of his dick rubbed against a spot that lit up my insides like the Fourth of July.
“Scout! Charlie!”
“Oh, yeah. Got you now, babe.”
He changed his thrusts so every stroke rubbed over that super sensitive spot. My arousal skyrocketed so fast my head spun. I slapped my sweaty palms against the timber of the table as he held fast to my hips and continued to drive me mad with his every stroke. Before I was ready for it, my orgasm rolled through me, sweeping me up and blanking my mind.
Scout
The moment her pussy clenched down on my cock and she cried out my name, a tingle shot down my spine and straight into my balls. Then I was coming, filling my woman up with my seed. As I did, all the stress from my day disappeared.
Taking a deep breath, I lowered my head to kiss my way up her spine as she lay limp across the table. When all she did was moan, I couldn't help but chuckle a little. She was so fucking adorable.
Pulling free from her heat, I tucked myself away and did up my pants, then I lifted her in my arms and made my way toward the back of her house where I knew her bedroom was. I laid her on her bed and ducked into her bathroom to wet a cloth to clean her up.
When I moved her legs so I could wipe her flesh, she moaned and wriggled against the mattress. She must have had one hell of an orgasm to still be so wiped out from it. I made fast work of cleaning her, before I tossed the cloth back into the bathroom and laid down beside her, running my hands over her sexy as fuck body.
When her eyes fluttered open, I leaned in to kiss her gently. Just when I was about to speak, her doorbell rang.
“Ah, fuck. I'll go see who that is while you get dressed. I want you in my bed where I can take my time with you.”
Her lips stretched into a lazy smile. “You just had me.”
“Yeah, and it wasn't enough. It's never going to be enough, babe.”
I gave her another fast kiss before I forced myself to leave her alone.
“If this isn't something fucking important, I'm gonna kill whoever is on the other side of that door.”
I'd mumbled the words, but when I heard Marie's chuckle, I figured she'd heard me. With a shake of my head I pulled the door open and caught a glimpse of a man running down the street. He looked vaguely familiar and I stepped forward to go after him when I stubbed my toe on a heavy box sitting on the doorstep. There was nothing written on it, no address or name. It sure as fuck wasn't some FedEx delivery. I glanced up to the fleeing man in time to see him face me and lift his arm to point something at me.
“Ah, fuck.”
Reality came crashing down on me and in a flash I was back in the house and shoving the door closed as I attempted to get further down the hall. I only made it two steps before a loud boom filled the air. Then before I could do a fucking thing about it, the force of the explosion had the door splintering a moment before I was thrown down the hallway, crashing hard against the wall.
Eerie silence filled the air while stabs of pain lit up all over my body. When my vision began to dim, I trie
d to focus down the hallway, to see if Marie was safe, but I only caught a glimpse of her before everything went dark.
Marie
My ears were already ringing when the floor boards under my feet shook as the second explosion blew. I’d been nearly dressed when the first explosion shook my house about a minute ago. Slamming my feet into my shoes, I ran for the hallway, praying Scout was okay.
“Holy shit!”
My hallway looked like a war zone. My front door had been blasted open, splinters of wood from the lower part of the door that was now missing a large chunk, were lodged in the walls and all over the floor, along with nails and bits of metal. My gaze caught on Scout and a gasp slipped from my throat. He was laying out cold on his front, his hand stretched out like he was trying to get to me. I prayed he was only unconscious.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I rushed to Scout as I dialed Bulldog. Scout had made me promise to call the club first if anything happened, and I didn’t intend to break that vow. Of course, the second I finished with him I’d be calling 911.
I put my fingers against his throat, sighing in relief at the strong pulse I found.
“Hey, Marie, what’s up?”
I struggled to hear him over the line. “The front of my house just blew up. Scout’s out cold.”
“Fuck. Hang on.” I could just make out his words as he told someone to call 911 and get them out to my house before he returned to speak to me. “Marie? Are you safe? Is anyone else there? Who set the bomb?”